Children and Monsters
by Kitsune-hime92
Summary: Resuming their travels after their first meeting with Sanzo's party, Hazel and Gato stumble upon a village. Listening to the pleas of the villagers, they cross the forest in search of a feared demon. What they find is really a monster, or only a child? Set in Saiyuki Reload. M for blood and violence.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Saiyuki. I found the cover on internet.

_flashback_

"talking"

'thinking'

"**demon talking**"

* * *

_A scrawny little boy, probably around six years old, with blond spiky hair was standing in an empty playground._

_He couldn't understand why the adults always ushered away their kids after seeing him._

_Why all the people of the village, save for the old man, seemed to be afraid of him? Why they called him demon?_

_He wasn't a demon, right? Otherwise, he would know._

_He tried to let them see they were wrong; he always smiled, played pranks and acted like the other kids his age but they either ignored him or looked more frightened than before._

_He only wanted a friend._

_Unbeknown to him, deep inside his consciousness, the creature lying within the cage stirred. Red eyes opened and a malicious grin stretched on its face._

oOo

Hazel was walking alongside Gato, two days after they had parted ways with Sanzo's group, lost in thoughts.

He couldn't discern how a monk with Sanzo's level of importance would team up willingly with demons; sure they were probably special cases. Still, in his eyes, all demons are monsters.

He was willing to let this pass for now, Sanzo will surely see his companions for what they really are and change side.

He was forced out of his musings when five demons surrounded them.

oOo

"_**Do you want a friend?**__"_

_Naruto jumped at the sudden voice and started looking around for the source but he was alone in his apartment._

"_**You will not find me out there.**__"_

"_W-Who are you?" Said the boy, still scared._

"_**Who am I is a matter of little importance. Now, I repeat, do you want a friend?**__"_

"_Y-Yes, voice-san" responded the blond._

_The fox smirked, "__**Then I will be your friend.**__"_

"_Really?" Asked Naruto with hope, eyes watering._

"_**Yes**__" the beast responded, its plan was setting in motion, soon the boy would become merely a puppet under his orders. Then it would break free from this cage._

oOo

"Go, Gato."

One command was all it took for the big man near him to take out his guns and start firing with precision to the monsters that dared to ambush them.

No bullet was wasted. The demons didn't even have time to start their attack and they were already on the ground, dead.

Taking out his medallion, Hazel started to collect their souls.

oOo

_Years passed, Naruto was now nine years old._

"_Ne, voice-san."_

"_**What is it now, brat? I am resting.**__"_

"_You are the Kyuubi, right?"_

_The voice didn't reply, and his world was engulfed in darkness._

oOo

Upon entering Konoha village, they were greeted by the usual reverence from people that had heard of their actions.

Therefore, Hazel was prepared for people asking for his services to revive someone or to cure some incurable disease, but apparently this time, it was not the cause.

The pleas from a woman within the crowd to free them from a demon caused a reaction among the other villagers, all of them asking for help.

They were all silenced by the arrival of the old mayor.

oOo

_Naruto awoke in a sewer. He couldn't understand how; one moment he was talking with his resident voice and the next he was here. Looking around he froze upon noticing something._

_A big cage stood in front of him, seemingly kept closed by a piece of paper with the word 'seal' on it._

_Curious eyes looked past the bars, where he could see something big moving._

_He gasped when the dim light illumined the figure that until now was in the shadow._

"_**Yes, I am the Kyuubi**__", growled the now visible fox. Then, as an afterthought added almost mockingly, "__**Now that you know what I am, are you scared? Angry? Do you loathe me for the life you had until now?**__"_

_Naruto frowned at the others tone, "No, nothing of all of that", and then smiled, "I am happy."_

"_**Happy?**__" the fox asked, incredulous to what he was hearing._

"_Yes, because finally I can give a face to my friend, Kyuubi-san" and with that, Naruto faded from his mindscape._

"_**Tsk. Stupid human**__" but there was a tiny smile on the beast's lips._

oOo

They were given a room for the night, Hazel was still thinking about the encounter with the mayor, apparently the only one sure that there wasn't a demon around there.

Gato was the one to break the silence.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Uh?"

"About the demon. The old mayor seemed close-lipped about the whole ordeal."

Before Hazel had the chance to reply, someone knocked the door, "room service, sirs."

"It's open!" shouted the monk, and a young woman in her twenties opened the door.

While she started to lay the dishes on the table, Hazel couldn't help but ask about the demon and the mayor.

"You see, Monsignor Hazel," the woman started in an almost conspiratorial tone, "thirteen years ago a monstrous demon fox attacked our village. If it weren't for the previous mayor's honourable sacrifice, probably the village that you see now would be only a pile of debris. Namikaze-sama sealed away the beast in an infant, killing himself in the process."

"In an infant? Wouldn't the demon take over?"

"That is what Sarutobi-sama don't understand, he see that beast as a troublesome child." Then added, "The demon already took over, I can assure you. We are all scared that one day it will become too powerful and kill us all. Please, you are our last hope" and with that the woman excused herself to resume her work.

oOo

_A ten years old Naruto was running inside the forest. There was no way he was going to let himself get caught by the village's police._

_Laughing, he asked aloud, "How was that, Kyuubi-san? Did you see their faces?"_

_The beast replied, somewhat amused, "__**I admit that it was fun to see that shopkeeper face when instead of tomatoes he found woman underwear in his cart.**__"_

_Noticing that he was now deep inside the forest, Naruto slowed down. Sharpening his hearing, he was happy to know that, even this time, his pursuers has given up._

_Panting, he seated himself on the ground, with his back against the trunk of a tree._

"_What could we do next time, Kyuubi-san?"_

"_**Kurama**__"_

"_Uh?"_

"_**My name is Kurama, use it.**__"_

_Naruto smiled._

oOo

It was still early when Hazel and Gato exited the village. The hotel didn't make them pay the bill saying that freeing them from the demon was more than enough.

They were able to force more information out of the woman when she returned to collect the plates.

Apparently, the target was a thirteen years old boy with blue eyes, blond hair and whiskered cheeks, and had the habit to pull every kind of pranks, more or less dangerous, on the population.

So here they were, walking among the path in the forest, for what seemed to be hours. Both of them keeping their senses sharp as they advanced, searching for clues about the demon whereabouts.

Gato was the first to notice. On some of the threes there where scratches, dents and blood, probably consequences of a fight.

That is how they found the boy.

He was burying a large group of demons. He was covered in blood, and if the fluidity of his movements was an indicator, it came from the corpses at his feet.

As silently as possible he whispered his command, "Go, Gato."

Apparently he wasn't silent enough because the boy, that until now hadn't noticed their presence, being concentrated on his task, widened his eyes and moved just in time to avoid a bullet.

"Hey, wait a minute! What are you doing!" shouted the kid, still dodging.

"Killing a monster" that was Hazel's reply.

A brief look of hurt passed the child's face at those words, only to be replaced with determination, "Oi! I am not a monster! I am Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!" and with that, sprinted towards the men.

He was surprising agile for a child, but that wasn't enough because Gato intercepted the kick aimed at his head with ease, blocking the leg with one arm, while he fired with the other.

oOo

Naruto dodged the bullet and backflipped, landing on all fours. So the man was not only good at long range fighting, but even strong at close combat; the demons he fought until now where really easy to beat in comparison.

Sweat formed on his brow. The man was strong, much stronger than he was.

"**You know, you can still use my power"**

A little smile appeared on his lips; trust Kurama to make a similar comment.

Red energy poured from the seal on his stomach, embracing him entirely and taking the form of a fox with one tail; his already pointed canines became sharper, whisker marks more prominent, blue eyes changed to red and his nails lengthened.

This time he was faster.

The man didn't have enough time to dodge the claws that severed his arms.

He was surprised when the other took suddenly out a strange medallion and transferred some kind of energy to his wounded companion. And puff, the arms where whole again.

With incredulity, Naruto pointed a finger at the now recovered man arms and shouted,"Oi! How are you able to do this! I can only regrow parts because of the fox! And you are not a jinchuuriki!"

It was the monk's turn to be surprised, "fox? Jinchuuriki?"

"Of course, Kura -ok I don't tell him your name, stop shouting in my head!- Kyuubi-san would have told me if you were like us!"

Even more confused, Hazel asked, "Kyuubi-san?"

"The demon fox, duh" and with that retreated Kurama's energy, the others were only looking at him strangely now and didn't seem to want to attack anymore, if not then he was going in a tactical retreat hoping they would get caught in some of the traps he filled the forest with.

"I see", said the silver-haired man, then sighed, "It seems there had been a mistake, you are not a monster aren't you?"

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto replied, "I think I already clarified that from the beginning" then placing an hand on his face added, "The villagers set you up for this, right?"

"**I told you plenty of times to leave this place but nooo, don't listen to the voice in your head, after all I like to talk to myself –" **Naruto tuned the rest out, Kurama could continue for hours.

Both men nodded, "Sorry for the inconvenience, I am Hazel Grouse and this is my companion Gato."

"Uzumaki Naruto" then asked, looking more closely at their attire, "Are you travellers?"

"Yes, we are. We passed the night in the village and they asked us to 'kill a demon', and while you are able to use demonic energy, from your host, you are still human." Said Hazel with a shrug, then added looking around the thick foliage, "You wouldn't know the way for the next village, would you?"

"**Go with them**"

'Are you seriously telling me to follow some strangers that minutes before tried to kill me?'

"**You can always ditch them later"**

'Kurama you… argh! Alright'

"If you want I can be your guide until the next village, I know a shortcut and with me you can't risk of getting lost in the forest, deal?" asked Naruto with the best version of puppy dog eyes he could muster, even if with the blood of the demons he was still covered into didn't help much.

Hazel thought for a moment before replying,"Deal."

And that, as many would say, was the start of a beautiful friendship.

**[the End]**

* * *

**A/N:** Ok, I don't know if I was able to, but I thought it would be fun to mix the two universes.

Sorry for any OCCness, the idea struck before I had time to reread Saiyuki.

I hope it wasn't too difficult to read flashbacks interlined like this with the actual storyline.

I set the story in Saiyuki Reload, after the first encounter between Sanzo's group and Hazel (and Gato).

For Naruto I used an AU, where Konoha is a normal village of the Saiyuki verse and didn't specify much the secondary characters. I wanted to centre more the story on Naruto and Kurama's developing friendship; because as much as I love good!Kurama and mentor!Kurama stories, I still think that the fox would start befriending Naruto for ulterior motives (like to escape the prison and not because he want a friend or feel pity), only to come to really become his friend and partner in the end.

I think that the end was anticlimactic and rushed, but I leave the decision to the readers.

Uh… I think I said everything…. Oh, right, sorry for any grammar mistakes that I surely made and thank you for reading!


End file.
